Optical scanning devices are well known in the art. An optical scanning device is configured to convert visual data into digital electronic data. For example, an optical scanning device (“scanning device”) can optically scan a visual document, such as a letter, to thereby generate a set of electronic data (typically in a digital format) which is representative of the original, visual, document (the “hard copy”). This digital electronic data can then be stored, transmitted, or used in some other way.
Scanning devices are employed in a wide array of applications. For example, some scanning devices are employed solely for scanning while other scanning devices are employed in conjunction with additional devices and operations. For example, some scanning devices are produced as stand-alone devices used solely for scanning, while other scanning devices are integrated with additional devices such as facsimile machines, copiers, and the like, wherein the scanning operation is integrated with additional operations and/or processes such as data signal transmission and/or with image-producing processes.
Various configurations of scanning devices exist in the art, including those known as flatbed scanners, sheet-fed scanners, handheld scanners, and drum scanners. One of the most popular scanning device configurations is the flatbed scanner. The flatbed type of scanning device is also known as a desktop scanner. Flatbed scanning devices generally employ a horizontal, flat, glass plate, or platen, that is typically located at the top of the scanning device. A scan head is operatively positioned beneath the glass plate and is configured to move back and forth under the platen between a position proximate one end of the platen and another position proximate the opposite end of the platen.
The hard copy document to be scanned is placed face down on the top of the platen. The scanning operation is then initiated and the scan head moved along the underside of the platen to thereby optically scan the document through the platen. The scanning head generally includes a light source. As the scan head is moved underneath and past the document, light from the light source passes through the platen and reflects off of light reflective portions of the document.
The light reflected from the document then passes back through the platen and is recorded by sensors (which are typically located in the scan head). The sensors are typically configured to generate signals in response to detecting the reflected light. The signals are received by a processor or the like to create an electronic image (typically in the form of a digital file) that is representative of the object being scanned.
The size of the platen on a flatbed scanning device must be at least as large as the largest document or portion thereof that is to be scanned in a single pass of the scan head. Thus, most flatbed scanning devices have platens with dimensions of at least eight-and-one-half inches by eleven inches (approximately 21.6 cm by 27.8 cm) so that a standard sheet of paper can be scanned. In many cases, the platen of prior art scanning devices is at least slightly larger than the size of a standard sheet of paper so that oversize sheets can be scanned.
Generally, the scannable area below the platen must be substantially “clear” of obstructions and the like in order to permit the scan head to sweep the entire scannable area of the platen during the scanning process. Additionally, a chassis or frame or the like generally surrounds the periphery of the platen for structural support thereof as well as for structural support of the scan head and related components such as those employed for moving the scan head back and forth from one end of the platen to the other. Moreover, a skin or outer body or the like is employed to protect the internal components of the scanning device. Thus, the “foot print” of a given platen and related components on a typical flatbed scanner can be considerably larger than the largest scannable area of the given platen.
Typically, the scanning device also includes a removable cover which is used to cover the platen during a scanning process. The cover reduces the intrusion of ambient light into the scanner during the scanning process and helps to hold the document in a stationary position in contact with the platen during the scanning process. More importantly, the cover is typically configured to provide a reflective surface adjacent to the platen so that scannable areas of the platen which are not covered by a document during a scanning process will be generated as white areas on the resulting image. This results in a more visually appealing image, and also reduces the consumption of the toner or ink used to generate the image.
Thus, because of the required size of the platen and related components, the size and/or the “footprint” of typical prior art flatbed scanning devices can be significantly large. That is, the size and/or footprint of prior art flatbed scanning devices is dictated by the size of the “bed” of the scanning device which includes the platen, the cover, the surrounding support structure and motive components, and the body, even though the size of the actual components of a typical prior art flatbed scanning device are relatively small compared to the “swept area” which must be maintained for movement of the scan head during the scanning process.
What are needed then, are scanning apparatus that achieve the benefits to be derived from similar prior art methods and/or devices, but which avoid the shortcomings and detriments individually associated therewith.